Catalog Request

Food Costs Rising Worldwide

This entry was posted on September 25, 2012 by Emergency Essentials.

On average, the cost of food in the US rises 4% a year. This year because of drought conditions and other factors, global food prices went up 10% in July, and may increase more depending on how successful harvests are this season.

From June to July this year, corn and wheat prices each rose by 25% while soybean prices increased by 17%, the World Bank said. Only rice prices decreased - by 4%.

“The [World] Bank warned countries importing grains will be particularly vulnerable [to increasing costs]… The organisation is urging governments to bolster programmes to protect their most vulnerable communities from the increase in the cost of food.

"We cannot allow these historic price hikes to turn into a lifetime of perils as families take their children out of school and eat less nutritious food to compensate for the high prices," World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said.[i]

Most of us have enough to feed our families and at least think about putting up extra food for an emergency. Few of us have had to pull our children out of school to help earn extra money to feed the family.

If you have extra resources to share, consider making a donation to a charity that provides help for families and children who don’t have enough to eat. Choose one whose mission you believe in, whether it’s a local soup kitchen or something on a national or international scale.

Another thing to think about is stocking up on crucial grains that are packed for long-term storage or buying heirloom seeds that will allow you to raise your own crops in coming years.

Have you noticed rising costs in your area? How are you planning to mitigate the effects of rising costs?